MATCH FACTS
Brazil's 23 Member Squad
Head-to-head
- Brazil beat Croatia 1-0 with a goal from Kaka in their only previous World Cup meeting during the 2006 group stage in Berlin.
- The two sides drew 1-1 in Split in August 2005 in their only other encounter.
- Brazil have won their last nine matches, scoring 30 goals and conceding only two.
- Their only defeat in the last 21 games came against Switzerland last August (W16, D4, L1).
- They are unbeaten in 37 matches in Brazil since a home defeat by Paraguay in 2002.
- Brazil are taking part in their 20th World Cup. They are the only team to have taken part in every single tournament.
- They have won the most games (67) and scored the most goals (210) at the World Cup.
- Only six members of the current 23-man squad have World Cup experience.
- Neymar has scored 22 goals in his last 28 international appearances.
- They are unbeaten in the five matches since Niko Kovac took charge last October, winning three games and drawing two.
- Croatia lost three matches for the first time in a qualifying campaign during the World Cup preliminary stage.
- They have gone four World Cup matches without a win and only scored in one of those fixtures (a 2-2 draw with Australia in 2006).
- Croatia's last nine World Cup games have produced six red cards.
Managers:
Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil)
Niko Kovac (Croatia)
Niko Kovac (Croatia)
Brazil beats Croatia 3-1
Goal Scorers
For Brazil -Neymar 29 & 71st minute penalty) and Oscar 90+1th minute
For Croatia -Marcelo 11th minute own goal
Brazil's defender Marcelo (top) scores an own goal to give Croatia the lead in the 11th minute
Neymar equalises for Brazil against Croatia with a low 25-yard strike in the 29th minute
Stipe Pletikosa of Croatia dives attempting to save a penalty kick taken by Neymar
Brazil's Neymar was booked for elbowing Croatia's Luka Modric
Squads
Brazil
Julio Cesar, Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, Luiz, Marcelo, Paulinho (Hernanes 63), Gustavo, Hulk (Bernard 68), Oscar, Neymar (Ramires 88), Fred
Croatia
Pletikosa, Srna, Corluka, Lovren, Vrsaljko, Modric, Rakitic, Perisic, Kovacic (Brozovic 61), Olic, Jelavic (Rebic 78)
Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari rejected claims they were favoured by the referee and heaped praise on Neymar after the forward scored twice in a 3-1 win over Croatia in the World Cup opening game on Thursday June 12,2014
Scolari said his team showed great character after bouncing back from an early own goal and singled out 22-year-old Neymar for his man of the match performance.
Scolari also heaped praise on the Brazil supporters in the 62,103 crowd in Sao Paulo, a city with notoriously fickle fans who booed the team in their final warmup match for the World Cup.
"Our players were excellent, they showed determination to be able to come from behind. They were fantastic," Scolari said.
"But who really deserves praise are the fans. It was wonderful, the support we received here in Sao Paulo. If there's still any notion out there Sao Paulo doesn't root for the national team effusively enough, that was put to rest today."
Croatia coach Niko Kovac blamed "out of his depth" referee Yuichi Nishimura and warned the World Cup could turn into a circus after a contentious penalty decision effectively cost his team the opening game of the tournament against Brazil.
No comments:
Post a Comment